


Royal Purple Polish

by littymcgritty



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Happy Ending, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Light Angst, One Shot, Post-War, Romance, TasteofSmut 2020, hearing, lots of wedding talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:07:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25281352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littymcgritty/pseuds/littymcgritty
Summary: Written for HP Taste of Smut Fest 2020 for the prompt "an old song brings back memories that they can't quite escape from".Tell me, have I lost my mind again?I get the feeling you might feel the sameTell me you can feel that love, feel that love againIn which Draco and Hermione try love for a second time. Sort of.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 6
Kudos: 68
Collections: Taste of Smut Fest





	Royal Purple Polish

**Author's Note:**

> song lyrics are from ["Love Again"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxo3ukybEfw) by New Hope Club! (and here's the [acoustic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4O7o-qHlWI) version which i really love as well)  
> disclaimer: this song is not mine and song property goes to New Hope Club. i am not financially profiting from this in any way :)  
>   
> thank you for the prompt and the mods at ToS for organizing this!

**_It's been a year, two weeks, one day, I_ **

**_Knew the minute that I saw your face that_ **

**_Only thing that never changed was you_ **

She wants to hide on the balcony for as long as is socially acceptable, and she tells herself it’s to get some fresh air, but she knows she’s pushing aside the nagging thought that tells her she’s really hiding from her date. Her touchy, infuriating, bothersome of a date who was Cormac. Hermione knew she shouldn’t have accepted, but she couldn’t bear going to yet another wedding without a date, and yet here she was, hiding on the balcony, dateless. 

She sighs and leans against the railing, champagne glass dangling dangerously on the tips of her fingers off the other side of the railing. She rolls the near empty glass back and forth, counting each second that passes, watching the sparkling liquid swirl as she tries to ignore the sensible reasoning that she should go back inside. Maybe ignore her date in a way in which he wouldn’t be able to find her alone. 

Another sigh and she sets the glass down on the top of the railing with a little  _ cling _ !, drawing circles around the rim. She sets her hands down flat beside the glass, grimacing as she examines the ghastly royal purple manicure Cormac had insisted she get to match his robes. She  _ really  _ shouldn’t have accepted. Luckily, they could be spelled away as soon as she was able to escape. 

A final sigh and she pushes herself off of the railing, swipes the glass and turns around. The balcony door swings open and she catches  _ his  _ eye, grey eyes that gave her the same goosebumps as graphite pressed too hard on waxed parchment. A song drifts out of the opened doors and her breath catches. 

**_Your perfume's intoxicating_ **

**_You still smile when you say my name and_ **

**_I love the way that you dance across the room_ **

_ She and Malfoy were friendly enough, as their friends had all started dating and the friendships began to merge. The most unlikely grouping that anyone would have imagined when they were kids, but Blaise and Ginny forced all of them together, asserting that they were only going to have one wedding when it eventually happened, so they all best get acquainted now.  _

_ The wedding did happen, and Hermione had unfortunately gotten roped into much of the detailed decisions as Ginny’s maid of honor, but she was glad to stick in cake testings and wedding robe fittings and hen night planning into her hectic schedule when she could. Surprisingly, Malfoy as best man had come to just as many tedious appointments, but was lighthearted about it, hiding his joy for his friend behind teasing comments. It wasn’t strange anymore for Hermione to see this fun, joking side of the Sytherins, and she found it rather pleasant to spend time with them.  _

_ At the rehearsal dinner, Hermione had rushed over from a meeting that ran two hours over, a forgotten quill still stuck in her hair even though she had transfigured her suit into an acceptable evening gown. She quietly slipped in next to Malfoy and whispered a quiet hey accompanied with a smile.  _

_ “Nice hairpiece,” he quipped quietly. She patted her head and felt the quill, throwing a scrunched nose in his direction, smile still on her lips, as she undid the knot and retied it into a low bun, securing it with a quick spell.  _

_ “I was supposed to leave early today, but Harrison ran the meeting late again. By two hours! Can you believe that? ” She moves her clutch from her lap to hang on the back of the chair.  _

_ “Unfortunately, I can. That man rambles on and has a talent for putting everyone asleep. Compared to him, you’re a saint to listen to,” he teased her, but she just rolls her eyes in response because she knows he doesn’t truly mean the underlying insult. “Save a dance for me tomorrow?” _

_ She let out a soft chuckle, “And I thought you had impeccable memory. Did you already forget one’s planned?” _

_ “That one doesn’t count.” _

_ “Okay.” _

**_And it comes rushing back_ **

**_As the moment passed_ **

**_Make me wanna grab your hand_ **

**_And pull you back_ **

She forgets to breathe. 

She blinks. 

She reminds herself to not drop the glass by her side. 

“Hi,” he starts.

“Hey.”

“You’re here with McLaggen?” He asks. She thinks he sounds hesitant.

She sighs again and with a remorseful smile, “Um, yes. Sort of, I guess.”

He huffs with a wry smirk, “He’s lucky.”

**_And even though we're in this crowded room_ **

**_I'm feeling like there's no one else but you_ **

_ He first caught a glance at her maid of honor robes when they were going through catalogues to select a color. Ginny wanted purple, and decided on lilac, to Granger’s relief. She wanted Ginny to have full autonomy because it was her wedding, but very much disliked royal purple, however would have for the record, as she told him, would have worn it if Ginny had wished. _

_ He saw the lilac robes in full when Granger was rushing around on the wedding day, making sure every flower was precise, rechecking the table placements for Ginny twice, but she was glowing. Her robes fluttered around her like a halo, the sleeves flouncing as she waved her wand to secure a fallen vine. The hem danced as she spun to wave him over. _

_ “Hey. Lilac looks good on you. I’m glad Weaselette didn’t choose royal purple,” he teased. _

_ She chuckled a thanks and asked,“How’s Blaise?” as she made final rounds to check everything one last time.  _

_ “He says he’s alright, but he was shaking as he did his bowtie. Bloke’s nervous as hell. Excited though, especially for post-wedding activities I’m guessing,” as he raised his eyebrows suggestively.  _

_ “Get your mind out of the gutter!” she laughed. _

**_Tell me, have I lost my mind again?_ **

**_I get the feeling you might feel the same_ **

**_Tell me you can feel that love, feel that love again_ **

“How’s Astoria?” She’s desperate to get attention off herself.

“I wouldn’t know. She came with Theo,” he glances over his shoulder and she follows his eyesight. 

“Oh.”

“They’re good together. Happy.”

“Seems so.”

“Potter and Pansy, too. Although now I guess they’re both Potters,” he attempts a joke. It works. She lets out a quiet laugh.

A small, but genuine smile sneaks onto her face as she looks past his shoulder at the newlywed couple, “They are.” She catches his eye, “Happy, I meant. They deserve it.”

“Are you?” She tilts her head at him. He clarifies. “Are you happy?”

**_It's been a minute, six seconds, now I want you_ **

**_'Bout to risk it all, baby, if you want to_ **

**_See that look in your eyes and I guess you do_ **

_ “How about that dance, Granger?” _

_ She was sitting, propped up on the stage, heels long ago tossed on some other table, of which were no longer immaculately set. She smiled down at him, half drunk on champagne and the other half on joy for her friends.  _

_ “Of course. I promised,” she stuck her hand out for his help down the stage. She wasn’t even sure how she got up there, but she guessed it was during the karaoke portion of the night that Blaise had insisted on. Her toes couldn’t reach the floor for her to get a stable footing, so she jumped without telling him and caught him off guard, but he still caught her with a smile. She excused it on the alcohol, even though she had only had a few drinks for the toasts.  _

_ “Tell me you can feel that love, feel that love again,” the song played faintly in the background.  _

_ Her arms looped around his neck, his hands tightened on her waist, not moving from when he caught her leap into him. They just swayed, her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed as she listened to his soft humming. He turned to face her. _

_ “I love this band. I didn’t know you listened to muggle music,” she was surprised and lifted her head up to talk.  _

_ “I’m full of surprises. Besides, it’s good and so much more varied than wizarding music.” He doesn’t stop swaying. _

_ “Surprise me,” she boldly requested. She glanced down at his lips for just the briefest moment, and she definitely blamed it on the courage of the alcohol. They stop swaying and everything blurs. She hadn’t noticed before the flecks of blue in his eyes. She definitely notices when they close and he leans in. She does too.  _

_ “Let’s leave?” he breathed. _

_ “Yeah.” She opened her eyes to look at him. _

_ And they were gone.  _

**_And it comes rushing back_ **

**_As the moment passed_ **

**_Make me wanna grab your hand_ **

**_And pull you back_ **

“I-- uh, yeah. I’m- I’m alright,” she mumbles and decides being stuck by Cormac would hurt her less. She makes her way in, but he steps ever so slightly to signal that he didn't want her to go.

"Was it really a mistake?"

**_Let me know_ **

**_Let me know_ **

**_Let me know_ **

**_Tell me, have I lost my mind again?_ **

**_I get the feeling you might feel the same_ **

**_Tell me you can feel that love, feel that love again_ **

_ She woke up with a smile. With warm arms under her neck and flopped over her waist. With her legs tangled in his, her usually cold feet being warmed by him. She absentmindedly intertwined their fingers together, sleepily giving his bicep a gentle peck.  _

_ Then her full consciousness came. Her eyes shot open and she froze. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. She grimaced at the irony. They slept together. How could she let that happen? He probably doesn’t even feel the same way. Are they still friends? Not? Did they cross a line? Everything’s going to be ruined. Isn’t he dating someone? He’s always dating someone. Fuck, fuck, fuck. _

_ She started to slip out of bed, as stealthily as possible. He gently stirred against his silk sheets. _

_ “Hey,” he said softly, with a gentle smile, and propped himself up to look at her. She was already halfway off the bed, and took her chance to stand up completely and made the mistake of looking at him. She cursed his beauty and how the sunlight bounced off his cheekbones and made his white blonde hair glow.  _

_ “Hi. Um. Hello,” she painfully put on a big, polite smile. One he never had to see because he always made her genuinely smile. “I have to go for, uh, work. Yeah. I’m going to be late,” she fumbled as she gathered her clothing. “See you,” she flashed him finger guns and left out the door before he could even process it. She had been so flustered she forgot it was Sunday. _

_ He flopped back down, completely confounded and a little bit hurt. It hurt more after he noticed that his sheets smelled like her perfume.  _

**_If I make a move are you down with that?_ **

**_Go in for a kiss, would you kiss me back?_ **

“Um- wait, what?” She furrows her eyebrows.

“Sleeping together. That night after the wedding. Did you regret it?” 

“I-, no-, I-I didn’t, um,” she stammers, and he’s patient, like he always is. It was another surprising thing to learn.

It was his turn to furrow his eyebrows and pout, “Then I’m confused. Why’d you leave so hastily?”

Her mouth opens and closes twice, pursing her lips in between to figure out her words. She wraps her hands around the champagne glass she’s still holding onto, just to anchor herself. She looks down at the bubbles floating up as she speaks. “I think I was just scared,” she starts, “There was just a lot to, um, process, I guess. And I was just overwhelmed. So I fled.”

He pries her tightly wound fingers off of the glass, setting it down on the railing, gently holds both of her hands and asks, “Have you processed it?”

“Well, sort of. Like, um, I didn’t know if you were dating someone, and you would’ve told me, but you’re always kind of dating someone and I didn’t know if you just wanted to sleep with me but then I had to go and have feelings for you and we were both kind of drunk and I didn’t know if we were still friends because we slept together and you mean so much to me and our friendship is so important to me and I just-”

“Hey,” he interrupts her, letting go of one of her hands to stroke her cheek. It’s just enough for her to register that he’s leaning in to kiss her, so she shuts up and lets him and kisses him back. 

“Was that clear enough of an answer for you?” He asks in just above a faint whisper. 

She just kisses him.

**_Tell you once again that I'm taking you home_ **

**_Feel that love, feel that love again_ **

She stays the next morning. She intertwines their fingers and doesn’t freak out about it this time. She feels him move behind her and turns to face him. 

“G’morning, Granger,” he sleepily murmurs. 

“Hi,” she smiles and brings her manicured hand up to stroke his hair. She forgot about the purple polish until just now. He notices her change in expression and looks up to see what she’s examining. He spots it.

“You hate that color, why is it on your nails?” He takes her hand and splays it out in the air on top of them. 

“Cormac insisted for them to match his robes and it wasn’t worth the argument because I could just  _ Scourgify  _ them off after the wedding,” she chuckles retelling the story because it seemed so trivial now. He reaches for his wand and cleans the color off for her. 

“Okay, that’s better.” He kisses her palms. “You won’t have to go to weddings with inconsiderate pricks anymore. You have me.”

“Is that much better, though?” she jokes. 

The next wedding they went to was theirs.

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i hope you enjoyed this and that the structure was smooth. for clarification, the italics were supposed to be the flashbacks and the normal text was present (the bold are lyrics)! please shoot me an ask on tumblr [@littymcgrittywrites](https://littymcgrittywrites.tumblr.com/) if you have any questions!
> 
> * * *
> 
> 💋 This work is part of the Taste of Smut Fest, a Harry Potter-centered fest dedicated to the five senses: taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight. 
> 
> If you’ve enjoyed this work, please do shower our content creators with kudos and comments! 💌
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